


The Consequences of Things

by sheafrotherdon



Category: Harry Potter - Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-01-22
Updated: 2005-01-22
Packaged: 2017-10-11 23:27:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/118328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sheafrotherdon/pseuds/sheafrotherdon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's past midnight when she sees James – a glimpse of his face across a rapidly emptying common room.  She frowns and the thought's there before she can stop it: <em>something's changed</em>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Consequences of Things

It's past midnight when she sees James – a glimpse of his face across a rapidly emptying common room. She frowns and the thought's there before she can stop it: _something's changed_.

She's not sure if she's prying or actually concerned but she lingers long after everyone else has gone to bed. It's just the two of them now, and he's sitting in a chair pulled close to the fire, and she wonders if she's losing her mind because she thinks he's aged – _impossible_ – since breakfast. He's lost in thought, doesn't notice she's staring, and that might be the most perplexing thing of all. He's been falling over himself to catch her eye for the last three years, but now he's not that boy.

She studies him, trying to work out what's different, but it's beyond her. Nothing's different, but everything is, and the way he's staring into the fire makes parts of her body ache – her throat, her elbows, some guarded place inside her chest.

She's on her feet before she knows what she's doing, and she's sinking down beside his chair, and her hand's on his elbow and she's offering a small, questioning smile.

He takes her hand but his smile's grown dim since yesterday. He doesn't say a word.


End file.
